Two years ago, a friend of mine from my hometown asked me how it felt to be halfway done with college. Did I feel old? Had the time gone by too fast? Was I happy to be (somewhat) almost done with school for good?
This is the last piece I will write for The News-Letter. In my two years of involvement, I have written about international tensions and public health issues, how much I dislike Mulan (2020) and how much I appreciate Taylor Swift’s two recent albums. So it is hard to decide what to include in my final piece as a proper tribute and closure to my time at Hopkins.
When I was a freshman at Hopkins, I used to wander through different dorms at night looking for new people. Before COVID-19, this was how I made a lot of friends: having meaningful late-night conversations over Insomnia cookies or fruit snacks.
Located in Towson among many other shops and restaurants is a small, Chinese all-you-can-eat hot pot place called New Generation. It is a familiar location to many Hopkins students, but for me, it’s something even more special.
Fully vaccinated and hoping to feel something, I went to Power Plant Live! last Thursday for the first time since the pandemic started. As I squeezed past peers I hadn’t been indoors with in eons, I was reminded of the Brood X cicadas that have descended upon the nation.
When I first went to work at The News-Letter in September 1965, its office was on the ground floor of the Merrick Barn. It wasn’t until 1966 that co-editors Caleb Deschanel and Jim Freedman, both members of the Class of ’66, moved it to the Gatehouse — which was brilliant. I don’t know how they managed it, but the Gatehouse was — and still is — the perfect headquarters for the paper.
Mike Deak (Editor-in-Chief), Elliot Grover (Business Manager), Phil Konort (Business Manager) and Mark Wolkow (Business Manager/Managing Editor) worked on The News-Letter together from 1974 to 1979.
Mark Reutter was involved with The News-Letter from 1968 to 1971 as the first City Editor, Friday managing editor and co-Editor-in-Chief with Ted Rohrlich. After graduating from Hopkins he was a reporter for The Baltimore Sun and is currently a senior editor and reporter for The Baltimore Brew.
Greetings, quizlings! After 25+ years of dormancy, The Quizmaster has once again re-emerged into the sunlight to delight and annoy you! Like some kind of defective cicada, only with less flying into your face. In honor of The News-Letter’s 125th anniversary, this issue’s quiz is about people connected to Hopkins who were well-known journalists and/or authors.
Attending Hopkins was among the most important experiences of my life. For the first time, away from the protective — and irresistible — constrictions of my family, I took myself and the world seriously; I worked hard and nearly up to my potential; I met new people and learned new things; I was advised by intelligent and caring friends and teachers, who, unlike family members, were not obligated but had chosen to take an interest in me and my welfare; and I made decisions about my future — decisions that I have certainly questioned on occasion, but from which I have never significantly deviated.
In March 2020, COVID-19 forced us to switch to daily, online-only production. Yet for the nearly 125 years before the pandemic, The News-Letter was a print (or a print-first) publication.
Gayle Cohen Cinquegrani joined The News-Letter shortly after arriving on campus in the fall of 1976, remaining on the staff until her graduation in 1980. During that time she worked on the news staff, serving as a news reporter (1976-78), News Editor (1978-79) and Contributing Editor (1979-1980). After attending law school she enrolled in the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She then worked for Bloomberg Bureau of National Affairs, where she reported on employment law, the U.S. Labor Department and the legal industry. Cinquegrani is currently an editor at a research center affiliated with Georgetown University.
First setting foot in the Gatehouse darkroom in 1985, Kevin Thomas Tully joined The News-Letter as a Staff Photographer before becoming a Staff Writer. After graduating from Hopkins in 1987, Tully began a short stint at a community newspaper before becoming a sports editor with Gannett. He then led the PR efforts for the flagship franchise of the XFL in New York. Today, Tully is the Chief Operating Officer for a global marketing agency that represents some of the most recognized brands in technology.
Miriam E. Tucker began writing for The News-Letter in her junior year during the fall of 1984, and served as Co-Science Editor from 1985 to 1986. She focused on stories about medical research, often taking the Hopkins shuttle to the School of Medicine and interviewing doctors about their research. That background led her to a writing job with the International Medical News Group LLC in Rockville, Md., where she worked until 2012. She now freelances for several different media outlets, including the Washington Post, National Public Radio’s Shots blog and WebMD’s professional site Medscape. She writes extensively about diabetes, a condition she has lived with since 1973.
This year, as I do every year, I filled out my NCAA basketball bracket. Like most years, I did not do very well. My wife kicked my butt (again, like most years), and I barely beat my 10-year-old son. The one thing that saved me from finishing last was my faith in the University of Southern California (USC). I had them in the Final Eight, and that’s exactly where their run ended when they lost to Gonzaga. I really knew nothing about them and had not seen them play all year. I picked them for one reason: Andy Enfield.
Caleb Deschanel was a Managing Editor from 1964-65 and an Editor-in-Chief 1965-66. He is a cinematographer and film director who has been nominated for six Academy Awards. Jim Freedman was a Features Editor 1964-65 and an Editor-in-Chief 1965-66. He is a professor, author and founder of an international consulting firm.
Joff Masukawa wrote for The News-Letter during his time at SAIS, from 1985 to 1987. Now he is an independent commercialization strategist who assists small, rare and speciality drug companies develop their business strategies as president and founder of Diligentia Strategy.
Known as “Mr. News-Letter” on campus, Richard Waring was a valued member of the paper throughout his Hopkins career, from 1970 to 1974. He rose through the ranks, occupying positions of staff reporter, Managing Editor and Executive Editor. During his senior year, he was the sole Editor-in-Chief of the paper. After graduating, he worked as a reporter for two newspapers in Massachusetts and then attended law school. He continued to work in private law practice until 1986, which is when he joined the Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine. Since 2000, he has worked as an attorney for the National Association of Government Employees, a union that represents Massachusetts state employees.
We began our love of good beer at Hopkins, back in the early ‘90s. In human terms, that was a generation ago — we each have kids and stepkids of our own attending and looking to attend college. In beer terms, eons have passed. The nascent microbrewery scene has blossomed locally in Baltimore and far and wide across the country into a varied world of brewpubs, craft breweries and highly specialized nano-breweries. Heck, some of our favorite independent breweries are no longer that, as they have been purchased by other breweries or even some of the multinational breweries. Our 30-year journey has been quite the trip.
Rachel McGuckian attended Hopkins from 1986 to 1990 and was a four-year varsity letter winner in field hockey, and an All-University Athletic Association selection and co-captain her senior year. There was a dearth of writers interested in reporting on women’s sports in the 1980s, and during her freshman year she occasionally wrote articles for The News-Letter at the request of either staff, coaches or the athletic department. She was invited to become a regular staff writer her sophomore year, and was named Co-Sports Editor (along with Josh Orenstein) her senior year. She was one of the first female Sports Editors in Hopkins history.
